I'm also not an expert in this field, but here's my answer to you, Dave, and to Michael and Karl:
in my response to Stephen. Also, if as you suggested this word is part
of the common Semitic stock, instead of being Akkadian ša rēši “the one
at the head” > Hebrew saris, it would be Hebrew še rō'š, or 'ašer rō'š
“the one at the head”.
Perhaps, but not necessarily. Hebrew also has words such as reshit and rishon with similar meanings.
I'm not sure why Akkadian š becomes Hebrew s when
borrowed, but you can hardly argue that Hebrew š (shin) becomes Hebrew s
(samek).
Of course not. I'm not talking about Hebrew shin, but a term from the (admittedly hypothetical) Proto-Semitic word stock. So the question is not, "doea Akkadian shin become Hebrew samek" but "might a Proto-Semitic word with (say) a sin be rendered with a 's' sound in Hebrew but a 'sh' sound in Akkadian?" Based on the chart I'm looking at in C. H. Gordon, _Ugaritic Textbook_ p.30, the answer is "very likely." The 7th column of the chart shows a Proto-Semitic s' (an 's' with an acute accent on it) rendering as 's' in Hebrew but 'sh' in Akkadian. So if there is any validity to the pattern he sets forth, the question of SRYS still seems to be an open one.
I say all this while bearing in mind that I'm a grammarian, not a lexicographer, which means I'm painfully aware of my limitations in this area...
Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.